Alopecia Research Paper

610 Words2 Pages

Alopecia


How important is your hair? I know I am attached to mine because simply getting my hair cut is usually an emotional ordeal. Now just imagine not having any or having patches of baldness. This is what people with alopecia have to endure daily. So let’s take a look at what hair is, what is alopecia, the different types of alopecia, causes, treatments, and we will look at alopecia areata more closely. No matter what, every person has to deal with hair and /or lack thereof.
Hair is produced in the epidermis layer of the skin and is made up of a protein called Keratin which is produced in the follicles. An average head has approximately 100,000 to 150,000 hairs. Those hairs go through 3 phases in the life cycle. The first phase is anagen which …show more content…

• Telogen effluvium- is generally a temporary thinning of the hair because of changes in the growth cycle
• Scarring alopecia- is a permanent condition where the hair does not grow due to inflammatory skin conditions and other skin diseases where scaring destroyed the hairs ability to regenerate.
One specific kind of alopecia is Alopecia areata. This is where the autoimmune system attacks the hair follicles resulting in the hair falling out leaving round or oval patches on the scalp. (medMD, 2016) It is most common in people under the age of 20 but affects both men and women. Alopecia areata can also be an uncommon sign of syphilis. (Jeffrey Kinard, 2015)It can also affect the fingernails and toenails in some people appearing as if pitted by a pin leaving dents or like sand paper. Alopecia areata usually grows back in a few months however in about 10% of people it is permanent.
Whatever the type of alopecia you have there are many different causes such as, hormones, genes, stress, illness, drugs, injuries like burns, autoimmune disease, cosmetic procedures, medical conditions, and even the

More about Alopecia Research Paper

Open Document